A. E. Verrill—The Bermuda Islands. 53 
Or 
and cut down her shrouds, and so we tackled our barke, and rigged 
her. In stead of pitch we made lime, and mixed it with the oyl of 
tortoises, and as soone as the carpenters had calked, I and another, 
with ech of us a small sticke in our hands, did plaister the mortar 
into the seames, and being in April when it was warm and faire 
weather, we could no sooner lay it on, but it was dry, and as hard as 
a stone. In this moneth of April, 1594, the weather being very hot, 
we were afrayed our water should fayle us ; and therefore made the 
more haste away ; and at our departure we were constrayned to make 
two great chests and calked them, and stowed them on ech side of our 
mainmaste, and so put in our provision of raine water and thirteen 
live tortoises for our food, for our voyage which we intended to 
Newfoundland.” 
May in his narrative, states that when they went ashore in the 
night, they supposed they were on the shore of the island, because 
of the “hie cliffs,” but in the morning they found that they were 
seven leagues away from it. He also says that after building a raft 
they towed this ashore “astern of their boat,” and that “ we rowed 
all the day until an hour or two before night yer we could come on 
land.” 
Historians and others have been misled by this statement and have 
even imagined that they must have been wrecked on some far more 
distant island which has since been worn away or submerged ; or else 
that there was more land near the North Rocks. (See Lefroy, 
Memorials, i, p. 9.) But it is evident that May meant that it was 
seven leagues as they had to row, for they could not cross the reefs 
at that point, in the surf,-and must have rowed along outside of 
the reef till they reached the present ship-channel and there entered 
the bay and landed, probably on St. George’s Island. This would 
have caused them to row about seven leagues and would doubtless 
have taken all day with the boat heavily laden and towing a raft 
astern. 
On the Norwood map published in 1626,* in the two lower corners 
* This map was made by a very competent surveyor, Richard Norwood, who 
resided here many years. His first survey was made between 1615 and 1622. 
His completed map, dated 1622, and engraved in Amsterdam, was published and 
for sale in London in 1626; and this seems to be the best edition of it, for the 
outlines are engraved clearly and with care. Two other editions were published 
about the same time. 
He subsequently made another map, finished in 1663, on which every lot of 
land was located and numbered. (See Lefroy, Memorials, ii, p. 645, reprint of 
map.) He died in Bermuda, Oct., 1675, aged 84 years. Some of his descend- 
ants still reside there. 
